Goalie Girl

In her next to last year of playing soccer, Kaytie decided to do something new! She is learning to play keeper. Her first game she gave up zero goals!!! Here's to a great season!

Homeschooling is Like...

 a day at the spa!!!

Homeschool Review Crew: Zeezok

My schooling style leans heavily in the direction of Charlotte Mason, which I am always looking for ways to include learning about things like artists, composers and good literature. I love to read, so the literature is easy but I am not naturally an artist nor a composer, so art and music are a little more difficult. When my kids were younger, we were asked to review an elementary music appreciation course from Zeezok Publishing that we thoroughly enjoyed. So I was delighted when they asked us to review their new product Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades.

The course consists of nine readers and a Student Book. There are other things you can buy to add on, like a lapbook and a coloring book, but this is the basic package. I was sent a paper copy of the Student Book and physical copies of eight of the readers (the other one was sent by ebook because of a small mistake, if you buy the package you will receive all the books in physical form, or you can choose audio or ebook form). 

The readers are actually biographies of the composers studied in the program. They contain easy-to-read text and and black-and-white simply drawn illustrations as well as sheet music for some of the composer's songs. 

The Student Book is actually also the Teacher's Guide and contains all of the instructions you need to follow the program.

Another component of the program are the QR codes found throughout the book. There are instructions for downloading an app on your device to read the codes or you also can just type in a website in your browser and pull it up just as easily. This website contains all of the music you need to listen to during the course. It also has some videos that enhance the program. Let me just tell you that this was sooooo much nicer and easier to use than the CDs in the elementary program! It is all laid out so you can quickly find exactly what you need. 

This product is aimed at 5th to 8th graders, but my 10th and 11th graders enjoyed it just as much as my middle schoolers. I think it would be great for most high schoolers but especially if they had not previously been exposed to classical music and composer study.

There are seven composers included: Chopin; Schumann; Wagner; Foster; Brahms; Tchaikovsky; and McDowell.

So using Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades is easy.  If you have the product and an internet connection, it is "open and go". The composers are color-coded so it is easy to find your place in the book. And each composer has a schedule or weekly outline right at the beginning of their section. Chopin takes five weeks and all the others take four (if you follow the schedule). The schedule tells you what parts to read in the reader each week and then what activities to do in the Student Book. 

You can have your children read the biographies on their own, or you can use them as a read-aloud (especially if you have multiple children) but the activities are meant to be done together, parent included. 

The activities are varied. There are quizzes and tests to take, like the one below. There are comprehension questions and short answer questions as well, but we prefer to do those orally.

There are character qualities tied into each composer, fun facts to read, mapping exercises to bring in geography learning, information about all types of unusual instruments, family trees, histories of what else was going on in the world during the composer's lifetime, musical terms to learn and explore, recipes to cook,  and of course, music to listen to!

Each day, or every other day, or however often you choose to learn some music appreciation, you just pick up the Student book and work your way through the activities. It really is as simple as that. We added it into our Morning Meeting (group work/morning basket/ circle time for teens/ whatever you want to call it)  and just do a little bit throughout the week. 

We highly recommend Music Appreciation Book 2: for the Middle Grades for your entire family!

Meet the 7th Grader

Abbie is in 7th grade!!! She is also earning a high school credit this year!

Abbie loves reading, playing with friends, animals, babies, Barbies, and making people laugh.

She wants to be a preschool teacher when she grows up.

Homeschool Review Crew: Britfield & The Lost Crown

I have probably said it before, but books are my favorite reviews to get to do. I have loved reading since before I can remember and all of my kids love stories as well! So book reviews are fun and very much enjoyed around here! Today we are sharing our review of Britfield & the Lost Crown.

This is the story of Tom. Well, more accurately, the story of Tom and his mysterious heritage. Oh, and also the story of Sarah, a dismal orphanage, a bored professor, a detective who never fails to solve his case (except for that one time, but no one is talking about that!), a fabulous hot air balloon and lost crown (but you probably guessed the last one from the title?),

Tom and Sarah are miserable, neglected orphans desperate for freedom and a happy life. Since they are also best friends, they hatch an escape plot together. The plot seems doomed to failure, but a desperate attempt from the rest of the orphans launches them toward London in a hot air balloon. They are armed with a desire to get to London, a lucky necklace and a mysterious word... Britfield.

They fall into and out of many adventures along the way, being shot at, nearly drowning, evading police, crazy butlers, and a man named Speckle. But together, with the help of a kind friend named Hainsworth, they triumph over every obstacle, evade every attempt on their lives, and manage to thoroughly enjoy (almost) the entire experience! All while learning a few character lessons and some history along the way.

Now, Britfield & the Lost Crown is the first in a series of five books, so don't expect everything to be all tied up neat and tidy at the end.

I intended on having all of my children read this book. It just so happened, however, that I managed to get to read it first (that rarely happens) and also that our end-of-summer slipped completely out of our control. So I read Britfield & the Lost Crown and quickly decided that it would be our next read aloud together! Yes, it is just that fun and shareable!

I was able to read through the entire book quickly in just a couple of sittings. It is written for middle schoolers, so for an adult it was an easy read. My middle school kids would no doubt take quite a few hours longer to get through it if they were reading on their own.

I heartily recommend this book, not just for middle schoolers but for the entire family. I am looking forward to reading it aloud, but it is appropriate enough that you could hand it off to just about any child to read on their own. Now, there are quite a few harrowing adventures and narrow escapes so a young or sensitive child might have trouble, but Tom and Sarah are unfailingly clever and self-reliant and cheerful, so it is still a hopeful book.

We were also given access to a Study Guide that goes along with the book. This is in PDF form and 83 pages long. It is written to last eight weeks and is divided up by chapters. Each section contains Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Going Deeper. Most sections also contain a Learn More with Technology.

The Vocabulary section is usually a list of words for the students to look up, with a space to record the definitions, but sometimes it has a crossword puzzle or a word search or a quiz instead.

The Comprehension section asks questions, such as, "How does Hainsworth distract the police who are looking for Tom and Sarah?" and "How does Tom get out of his room when the door is locked?"

Going Deeper asks for short essay answers to similar questions, or for activities like drawing a picture.

Learn More with Technology contains questions for your student to research online.

At the end of the Guide is a list of all the vocabulary words and answers for the questions.

To sum up, yes! I recommend this book! Go buy it for your middle schooler because you will likely enjoy it as well!

Meet the 8th Grader

This is Daniel. He is in 8th grade this year, but he is earning a couple of high school credits.

Daniel is a busy guy. He enjoys camping, shooting, fixing, playing ga-ga ball, Pokemon, video games, and anything that involves doing something.

He wants to be an architect or a builder when he grows up.